


Old Coffee-Cup Sediment

by Narya



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Dystopian Future, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 19:04:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1399066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya/pseuds/Narya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, when the rain falls hard against his window, Stiles can almost imagine that he's back at Beacon Hills.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Coffee-Cup Sediment

**Author's Note:**

> The tittle comes from this quote: My life at this point is like very old coffee-cup sediment and I would rather die young leaving various accomplishments, i.e. some work, my friendship with you, some other artifacts intact, instead of pell-mell erasing all of these delicate things.

Sometimes, when the rain falls hard against his window, Stiles can almost imagine that he's back at Beacon Hills. There isn't much of it to come back now, not after the nemeton was removed from the land and creatures that weren't even known came out of the cracks. To date no one knew who had been responsible for it, for digging the tree stump out of the earth and setting it's roots on fire, but there wasn't much time to investigate. Within hours the town was swarming in all kind of creatures, and those who lived there were forced to get out if they wanted to keep their lives.

Maybe they could have planned it better had they known anything about it, but it was a matter of time, and time played them wrong. Instead of being together, their pack was resting at home. Each one at their own houses, enjoying the free time to be with their families for once, watching a little tv or helping with dinner.

Escaping is never easy, and it was probably due to their parents that most of them got out of there alive. Stiles was in no place to drive given the way that he was just crying out to go back and check if Scott was alright. The sheriff wasn't moved, and beyond driving in front of the McCall house to see if they were there (the car wasn't there) he didn't take any consideration. Stiles' safety came first.

Later on, weeks down the line, Stiles managed to get some cell phone signal, and got in touch with some of the pack. Erica had escaped, managing to find a barely breathing Boyd in her way, and she was living in a city near the beach with her family, Boyd and his little brother. Derek had left with Isaac, Peter wasn't found so they just left without him, and were living on New York, at Derek's old apartment. Lydia has left with her mom, and decided to move to Boston, and Danny was going to meet her soon. Allison was difficult to track down, but she had sent him a mail saying she was ok, with her father in tow, and that they had been moving around the borders of what was now Ground 0.

Scott had only sent him once message since then, telling him he was alive, he was alright, so was his mom, but nothing else.

Stiles didn't blame him. Communication, in times like those, was a difficult thing to achieve. And knowing he was ok was more than enough, at least for now. He did manage to successfully sent him a mail with his address, the apartment he was staying at, and news about everyone else (and their address if he knew them).

It wasn't like he was going to be moving any time soon anyway. Scott would catch up, eventually.

  
****

The Sheriff comes and goes. There's little of law out there for him to keep, and work is a weird thing to try and doing while things settle, but he knows Stiles' safe and good at home, so he feels comfortable leaving him while he goes and tries to find a job.

It's better than it was in the beginning at least.

Back then, when they had tried settling before, it had been rough. Stiles wasn't ready for it, for the long nights alone waiting for his dad to come home, or the complete lack of communication with those he knew. Panic attacks happened often, night terrors were just a thing that the sheriff got used to come back home to. It was their own version of hell within the walls of the places they lived at.

Getting in touch with Erica had helped a lot back then. She had stability, somewhere along the line she had found a town with enough druids to keep things at bay while the world came back to order. The hope was enough to keep Stiles breathing for a while longer.

Now days were longer, nights were spent sleeping more often than not. And maybe there was a water nymph in town who had decided to make it so that everything was covered in water 24/7, but it was nice if a bit wet. It was usually just a small drizzle unless someone pissed her off.

Stiles had began to appreciate the way that the town looked under the clouds and the way everything bloomed under the nymphs care. Part of him wished there was something he could do to help, but he understood that recovery took time, and he wasn't going to risk it. Not now.

It isn't until June, one day when the Sheriff has been gone for a couple hours now, and the nymph has been in her worst mood in months, when there's a knock at the door.

Stiles was by the window, reading with Skin, the cat, on his lap, and the knock surprises him. His dad has a key, and so does the lady down the hallway. No one he knows would knock.

He stands up, leaves the book by the couch and takes the cane with him. It's the best weapon he has when his dad isn't home. No unsupervised guns for him; it's the rule now after last time.

He looks through the peep hole and sees a mop of hair he'd recognize everywhere, before the wariness in Scott's eyes even registers. Stiles opens the door as fast as he can, and his heart stills at the view on the other side.

That's Scott alright. Scott and his mom a few feet down the hallway. They have a few bags with them, and they smile brightly when they see him. He doesn't stop to say hi before ushering them inside, the weather isn't right to be standing in the hallway; there's a broken window and the nymph is known to be an asshole when she's pissed.

The McCalls look drowned, so Stiles waits no time in getting some towels and throwing them at Scott's head, asking question after question about them.

"Hey, Stiles, we'll be here for a while. It's ok. Slow down" Scott jokes, and it's like Stiles' world gets to a stop in a second.

Somehow, after all those months, he can listen to Scott's voice again and he can hear him talk. Scott is there, in front of him, safe and whole and it's like there's sun shining outside his windows even when he can hear the rain pouring against them.

He falls down on a chair, at a loss of words, and maybe he looks at them for a few seconds before he breaks down. But Scott is there, he's alive, and nothing really matters beyond that.

Melissa is trying to make herself scarce, going to the kitchen for a kettle or something, there's some background noise of her talking, but Stiles can't really hear her... Scott is in front of him, his eyes shining red, and he's got this tiny smile.

There's arms around him, and for a second everything feels normal again.


End file.
